Does Showing Interest in Achieving Work-Life Balance Harms You? An analysis among Newcomers

Purpose – This research examines whether openly disclosing interest in Work-Life Balance (WLB) can be harmful for newcomers during their organizational socialization, particularly leading to a supervisor's negative evaluation. Moreover, drawing on gender role theories, arguing that the interest in WLB can be a higher source of stigma for men than for women, we test if the effects of publicly disclosing interest in WLB on supervisors' evaluation differ by gender. Design/Methodology/Approach/Intervention – We use a between-subject design with vignettes and a post-scenario survey wherein we ask supervisors to evaluate the newcomer on several socialization outcomes. We randomly propose different scenarios of newcomers (male vs female) disclosing different levels of interest in WLB (newcomers highly interested in WLB vs. newcomers ready to sacrifice personal life in favor of work) to supervisors. Results – The research is currently in the data collection phase and preliminary results will be available in the Fall. Limitations – The use of between-subject design reduces internal validity of scenarios but, given the high number of scenarios proposed to the same participant in the within-subject design, it could have reduced their objectivity in answering the post-scenario questions. Research/Practical Implications – Our research can help newcomers to figure out what is the better strategy to navigate successfully their organizational socialization according to supervisors' attitudes towards the WLB. Originality/Value – We believe this research addresses an unexplored topic about the potential negative implication of disclosing WLB interest during organizational socialization.